27 May 2013

Fandom Inspired - Doctor Who Daleks

Hello my lovelies! The sun is shining, the birds are singing, it’s the start of a new week, and I have another “Fandom Inspired” tutorial for you today!

I’ve been really excited about to share this one with you all, so without any further ado let me present:

The style I did for this nail was inspired by the gold colored Daleks in the rebooted series.

But you can do your Daleks in any color you choose. I just thought the gold ones were the most easily recognized. :) Now on to the tutorial!

Doctor Who Dalek Nails!

Step 1: Supplies! For this manicure, you will need:

Clear base & top coat

Nail polish in gold, black, white, and blue

A piece of paper/plastic for dripping polish on

A thin paintbrush

Three different sized dotting tools (I used my regular dotting tool seen here, and two pens with different sized clicky ends [which is totally a term, don’t lie to me])

Small adhesive pearls (which you can find at pretty much any scrapbooking section. I found mine at Michaels :) )

Step 2: Prep it! Clean and style your nails in the manner you prefer, and paint on the clear base coat.

Step 3: Stick it! After the base coat is dried, take out your adhesive pearls.

(Side Note: I was able to find pearls that matched the color of my Daleks pretty closely, but don’t worry if you can’t find the right color because you’ll be painting over them anyway.)

Press the pearls onto your nails in a pattern like the studs on the Dalek bodies, making sure to leave room at the tip of your nail to paint on the “sensor”.

For my nails, I was able to fit a 3 x 2 grid on my thumbs, 2 x 1 on my pinkies, and 2 x 2 on the rest of the nails.

Step 4: Paint it! After you’ve finished adhering the pearls, take your gold polish (or whatever color you chose for the body of your Daleks) and paint it over the entire nail. Make sure your paint reaches all areas on and near the pearl! This step will likely require at least two coats, but more likely you will need 3 to get a nice, solid color.

Step 5: Paint the base! Once the gold polish has dried, take your black polish and dab out a small amount onto your paper/plastic piece. Then, using the small paintbrush, paint the black in a thin stripe around the base of your nails (the cuticle end). This will create the “base” of your Daleks.

Step 6: Dot it! Now take your black polish and add more to the paper/plastic if you need it, and dip your largest dotting tool into the polish. Press the newly-polished tool in the center of the tip of your nails and press down. This will be the start of the Dalek “sensors”.

Step 7: Dot it (again)! After the black polish is completely dry, you will essentially repeat Step 6, except replace the black polish with the blue polish and use the next size smaller dotting tool.

Step 8: Dot it (a final time)! Now, taking your smallest dotting tool, you will dab out some of your white polish and use it to make a tiny dot in the upper corner of the blue circle.

This will act as a “reflection” in the “glass” of the Dalek “sensors”. :)

Step 9: Finish it! Now all you have to do is clean up the edges of your manicure and seal the entire thing with a clear top coat. And voila! You have some AWESOME Dalek nails that you can sport to show the entire world your Whovian status!